Few books of the Bible open the heart of God with the simplicity of John. In the very first verse the reader is carried back before the creation of the world, to discover that Jesus, called “the Word,” always existed and was always God.
This solemn opening prepares the ground for everything that follows: this is not merely the account of a good teacher, but the testimony that the Creator himself became flesh and lived among us.
Unlike Matthew, Mark and Luke, who recount many episodes from the life of Jesus, John chooses fewer scenes and dives deep into each one.
The gospel is organized around seven signs, miracles with meaning, such as turning water into wine and raising Lazarus from the dead, and seven statements in which Jesus says “I am”: the bread of life, the light of the world, the door, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the way, the truth and the life, and the true vine.
Each of these images answers a deep question of the human heart: where does the food that truly satisfies come from, who lights up the darkness, who keeps life forever.
The gospel also gives generous space to the last moments of Jesus with his disciples, chapters 13 to 17, where he washes the disciples’ feet, promises the Holy Spirit and prays for them before the cross.
There a God is revealed who serves, who comforts and who desires closeness with those who follow him. The cross and the resurrection, in the final chapter of the narrative of events, are not treated as defeat, but as the moment when Jesus is glorified and conquers death.
John writes with a stated purpose: that the reader may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and by believing have life in his name. This is not a book to satisfy historical curiosity, but a direct invitation to faith. Every sign, every discourse, every dialogue, with Nicodemus, with the Samaritan woman, with Pilate, pushes the reader toward that decision.
Reading John is walking alongside someone who knew Jesus closely and never tired of telling what he saw. May this gospel lead you to the same conclusion he reached: to believe in Jesus and, in him, to find life that never ends.